Tom Silburn is British, half-English and half-Polish. He was born in the UK where he has lived all his life, and is now living in Poland.
Tom is interested in history, particularly the history of science and technology.
He studied mathematics at the University of East Anglia and received a Diploma of Higher Education.
Changes in Great Britain: 200 years
Event type: Interactive talk
Facilitator: Tom Silburn
Age: 13-18
Level: Pre-intermediate / Intermediate/ Advanced
Time: 60 min.
In this session, we will see how people’s lives in Great Britain have been affected by changes in technology, especially transport. Transport in the United Kingdom has undergone major shifts in the last 200 years. In the year 1824, most transport over land was done by horse and cart, or simply by walking. From 1825, rail took over the UK, becoming the dominant form of medium and long range transport. In 1900, almost every town had a tram network. However, by 1960, all the tram networks were gone, half of the British rail network had been closed and the motorcar ruled supreme. Since then, the direction of transport in the UK has been characterised by a tentative stepping away from car dependency and a rejuvenation of the country’s rail network, along with a revolution in cycle infrastructure. In this workshop we’ll take a look at how developments in the UK’s transport network have affected people’s lives, and what further changes the future brings.
Public Transport in the UK sentences maching exercise
UK in Numbers: Migration
Event type: Interactive talk
Facilitator: Tom Silburn
Age: 13-18
Level: Pre-intermediate / Intermediate/ Advanced
Time: 60 min.
UK’s population is 67,026,300. Who are the people living in the UK? In 2017, 1 million of the people living in the UK were Polish. According to an official report, for the year ending June 2023, approximately 1.18 million people migrated to the United Kingdom, while 508,000 people migrated from the UK. Who came? In this workshop, we’ll take a look at the past and the present of immigration to UK from a lot of different angles with the use of statistics. By the end, you will come away with a better understanding of why people immigrate to, and emigrate from, the UK.
Wordwall UK in Numbers sentence matching exercise
The US and UK have been the location of many of the world’s scientific breakthroughs due to their fortunate position at the centre of the global economy. In this workshop we will look at two scientists from these two countries. First, we will go through the life of computer scientist Alan Turing, who was instrumental in developing a computer to decode Nazi cyphers. Second, we will look at J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. A chance to look at the times and challenges behind their lives: academic, political and cultural.
Wordwall J. Robert Oppenheimer Quiz
Wordwall J. Robert Oppenheimer sentence matching exercise